YY Litter
Miss White (now “Jiva”) went to Minnesota for tracking, nosework & herding competition and possibly Search & Rescue. Mr. Red (now “Archie”) went to Georgia as a pet and for therapy dog work. Mr. Gold (now “Zeke”) went to Montana as a pet and for therapy dog work. Mr. Purple (now “Ducati”) went to southern Colorado for forensic detection (cadaver). Mr. Blue (now “Ve”) went to Idaho for Search & Rescue. Mr. Green (now “Brodie”) went to Casper to be a therapy dog and compete in all kinds of dog sports – Julie plans to try agility, nosework, and rally, at least, with him. I kept Miss Yellow (now “Pascha”) for nosework competition, therapy dog work and hopefully breeding.
Zeke (Celhaus You are a Blessing) at 9 months
the former Mr. Gold
“Zeke is doing awesome! He is so big now, and so handsome, fuzzy and fluffy. Zeke is such a sweet boy. He loves coming up to us for pets and snuggles, although he’s not keen on napping with me. He is kind of lazy in a hilarious way. My golden, Indiana, and Zeke will play tug with a toy and his favorite move is to just lie flat on the floor while Indy just drags him from one end of the room and back again. He is also very patient and loving with my four children. My oldest loves to “train” him. Really, he just has him sit and lie down and stay but Zeke gets treats and my son gets practice on how to work with dogs. The girls love to dress him up and read stories to him and he patiently allows it. I have included a picture of Zeke with a cat ear headband the girls put on him. I am looking forward to spring when we can get outside to go jogging and enjoy some camping.”
Brodie (Celhaus Your Young Bromeister) at 33 weeks
the former Mr. Green
“Here are Brodie (at window) and Gus (LL litter, 4 years 8 months old) waiting for mom and dad.”
Brodie at 28 weeks
“So cute! Here is two-ball Brodie. He loves the snow, cold and two to three balls at once. Gus just loves him and plays with him more than I ever dreamed he would. We swear Gus gets more active and younger every day!”
Jiva (Celhaus Yaj of Ten Thousand Lakes) at 10 months
the former Miss White
Name Story: Yaj is Sanskrit for a person who is a wise sage. “Yaj is Sanskrit for a person who is a wise sage. Jiva is short for Jivamukthi. A Jivamukthi in Hindu is a fully “enlightened” soul who incarnates solely to help humanity. “Jiva” means the self and “mukthi” means freedom from the mortal world, emancipation or fully absorbed in God. Minnesota is known for its over 10K lakes.”
“Another lesson today so much improvement! Initially, before our lesson, I had a very hard time controlling her. The instructor was very firm on her behavior at the gate and wild pulling. Oof! Jiva almost took me down! She needed a few well-timed corrections. Then, we had a controlled walk to sheep and learning to move the sheep calmly. The instructor handed the leash to me on half hitch. She can handle more pressure, and I need to ask more of her. She must respect me and the sheep. People really complimented me on her working structure. ”
Jiva at 9 months
1/27/24: “Jiva is doing well! A bit more barky at dogs. Today we went to local popular lake. First sunny day in weeks and people were out! I sat on a bench several feet off a path. Had her sitting near me. She settled into the sit by herself. She was so into the sights, sounds and of course SMELLS. Several dogs passed by and she would just watch them calmly and air scent- about 5 to 10 feet away. All were very neutral, except one turned and gave her a flashing stare, and she barked excitedly. Not aggressive. I said no and light pop and called her to me. She got praise for coming. She was really very good, able to stay by my side on loose leash and pass other dogs with me encouraging her to pay attention to me. It has been many weeks since she was out around so many humans and dogs. She is such a great pup! I have put a lot of energy setting her up to be successful. The goal for the day was a new place for her to see and remain calm. I try to keep her under her threshold. So far, it’s working! We will be starting formal herding lessons soon! It’s a very hard endeavor, for her, but mostly for me as a new handler learning the ropes.”
2/2: “Lovely trip to State Park today. We have had almost NO snow this winter so the usual cross country ski courses were perfect for our hike. I taught her to respond to pressure on prong- to back off when she pulls. She getting great on the loose leash. Her nose was to the ground with all the smells! 2 hours outside and she was zonked when back in the car!!! Proud of her!!!”
2/7: “Jiva had her first official herding lesson this week! A long session in the pen with 4 sheep, learning to respect the sheep and moving on the outside of them. She wants to grip them!!! It was a great, crazy first lesson! At the end she approached them more calmly. She also got her first lesson in being short-leash clipped to the fence. Eventually, she has to be calm and okay with me stepping away. She did well with me about 20 feet away. She sat, watched some other dogs attached to the posts and some sheep. She mostly sat and looked around. She settles very nicely!!! She got a lot of praise for her efforts! There is another group of herding that meets elsewhere that works with more of GSD tending style with larger flocks. I will check them out at some point. The instructor mentioned it.”
Photo: “Got that much-needed mat for ‘place’!”
Jiva at 38 weeks
“Jiva needs a bigger mat for ‘place!”
Jiva at 36 weeks
Photo 1: “We started nosework (Dave Kroyer method of working on the indication first) on September 20th. Three months later (working occasionally), we’re making slow, steady progress! Showing off her sit indication.
Photo 2: “Oof! Jiva says hello!”
Jiva at 35 weeks
“Jiva at 8 months. Thinking about starting trouble!”
Jiva at 33 weeks
12/8: “The YY litter is 8 months old today! Thank you for this lovely handful, Jiva!”
12/17: “She is still bringing piles of sticks to the back door, chewed up. Now she is into shredding things. Junk mail is a favorite to steal and shred. She is particularly fond of dish rags and washcloths – and so quick! Something about cloth that she just totally enjoys tasting and shredding. At least she no longer goes after my shoes. I look forward to her growing out of this stage.”
12/2: “Unusually mild here with no snow! Did a track for Jiva today. Serpentine to work on slowing her down! So much harder for me to know where I put the track! She did a lot of casting and few times lost track (I did too!!!) But asked her to continue. She is crazy fast and it did slow her down. Lousy field conditions too. Hard packed frozen short grass. Ended the day chasing big blue Indestructible ball in a big field. Mentally and physically tiring! She is zonked now. No doubt that will change!!!”
Photo 1: “Place.”
Photo 2: “Pivot training. It’s blurry because she doesn’t stay too still!”
Jiva at 31 weeks
12/2: “Unusually mild here with no snow! Did a track for Jiva today. Serpentine to work on slowing her down! So much harder for me to know where I put the track! She did a lot of casting and few times lost the track (I did too!!!) But I asked her to continue. She is crazy fast and it did slow her down. Lousy field conditions too – hard-packed frozen, short grass. She found all 4 articles!! Ended the day chasing big blue Indestructible ball in a big field. Mentally and physically tiring! She is zonked now. No doubt that will change!!!”
12/7: “She weighed in at 55 pounds today. Strangely, today Jiva started barking and barking at a hanging plant (she will play with the leaves that fall on the floor) and then at a painting I have on the wall. She is so silly.”
Photo: “Nice indication!”
Jiva at 29 weeks
Photo 1: “Beautiful Jiva. She is an adorable handful.”
Photos 2-3: “Sweetest.”
Jiva at 28 weeks
9/29: “Funny Jiva story. Yesterday afternoon I had to cut back some lilac bushes. Jiva in yard with me “helping.” I carried the large cuttings to a pile to eventually break down. Jiva kept taking branches off the pile and parading them around the yard. An exercise in futility. Put her up near dusk and heaped them all together knowing that today I would break them all down. Well this morning I let her out to potty. Unusually quiet out there – so I thought I’d check. Went to back door. She was sitting at the bottom of the steps. She managed to drag SEVERAL branches up the stairs in front of the back door blocking it from opening. The girl worked very hard to move all these branches up the stairs. I just laughed!! Needless to say, I took care of them swiftly today. The world is one big chew toy, and every branch must eventually come inside or at least on top of the steps to block the back door. My, oh, my!”
Photo: “First snow fall. Not a great picture since she was running, and running and running in the big field. She was having a blast running and eating snow.”
Jiva at 26 weeks
“Busy weekend with Jiva! Yesterday I observed a herding trial and volunteered to be time-keeper for the judge. I learned so much! The herding place has a large – huge – fenced-in field for grazing. My sister took Jiva there and let her just run and run and run. And today a tracking test. They had an extra open field so I put down a track for Jiva. But oh my! They had just done a controlled burn recently. Lots of casting on the charred grass. But she kept working and it out! Good girl and now I am exhausted!!!”
Photo: “Jiva weighed in today at 50 pounds. I call her compact! The herding instructor really likes her build. She is totally an athlete.”
Jiva at 25 weeks
Photo 1: “Watching the sheep! We have been going up every few weeks just to watch the sheep and be around them. Today the instructor told me that Jiva is ready to be in the field or pen with them for a lesson on the long line. There will be 3-4 head of sheep. It was fun watching the other dogs and handlers work the larger flocks.”
Photo 2: “Jiva traveling for the first time to beautiful Winona, MN, along the Mississippi River, famous for its beauty along the river and its grand bluffs. The fall colors are just peaking. Settled nicely at the motel.”
Photo 3: “Hiking on trails – gorgeous day for a walk and a pose!”
Jiva at 24 weeks
Photo 1: “Nice walk and outing with my mom. Jiva is not loved at all! Made my mom’s day!”
Photo 2: “I never thought on October 1st, in Minnesota, that I would have the baby pool out. 89 degrees. A new record high!”
Photo 3: “Actually calmly lying on the futon! Cuddle time!”
Jiva at 22 weeks
9/20: “Started nosework.
9/24: “Today I tried a track with more problems for her to solve – across some variable surfaces, asphalt road with curbs. I tried to let her figure it out and waited until she solved the puzzle. More circling. One road was really close to a turn. She never gave up and did it!”
Photo: “Sporting her new herding harness. We spent last Sunday with the sheep! Right now I use the harness, with a long drag line, for ‘off leash’ stuff in parks and areas. She can romp better since the drag line doesn’t get as tangled as it does when attached to a collar.”
Jiva at 21 weeks
Photos 1-2: “Cooler weather and a nice walk in a park. She is gorgeous – and her coat is beautiful! Long track this morning. So awfully dry here. She downed on the article without my reminder for the first time! We hang out with the sheep on Sunday, and start another round of obedience classes next week.”
Photo 3: “Another nice day for a walk.”
Jiva at 20 weeks
“Right now she’s in the, ‘Hi, I am Jiva. Everything on this walk belongs in my mouth’ stage. I cut an old garden hose into two 15-nch pieces for two-toy fetch. I ask her to sit or down, mark it with the clicker, and the game is on. It also teaches her to ‘out’ the hose as she runs toward me, and then I toss the other hose. She loves this game! Here she is cooling off after a round of Two-Toy.”
Ve (Celhaus Youngest Brother Ve) at 18 weeks
the former Mr. Blue
Name Story: “Ve is one of the brothers of Odin in Norse Mythology. My two male dogs are named Vili (middle brother) and Ve. (Https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vili_and_Ve). Ve is pronounced ‘Vay’.”
Ve at 17weeks
Ducati (Celhaus Yamaha Chasing Ducati) at 19 weeks
the former Mr. Purple
“Life imitates art”
Ducati at 13 weeks
7/8/23: “He is awesome! I took him to Murdock’s today, and a hardware store. And, of course, he was a favorite of everyone. His toy drive is over the top in awesomeness. Great guy! He is the best!”
Archie (Celhaus Yan) at 11 weeks
the former Mr. Red
“Archie is doing great! He loves hanging out with the kids!”
Pascha (Celhaus You Walk on the Wings of the Wind) at 20 weeks
Pascha now has her own page. New photos posted 8/31/23
Name Story: Since this litter was born on Holy Saturday, I wanted an Easter-themed name for my girl. The name for Easter in the Eastern Rite Churches is “Pasch.” In the Western Churches we talk of the Paschal Mystery of Easter. “Pascha” is a derivative of both Easter names. Her registered name is from my favorite psalm (Psalm 104), which is one of the Psalms prayed in the Liturgy of the Hours for Easter Sunday.
Pascha at 18 weeks
Pascha just finished her puppy kindergarten class. She was the star of the class until the last session, when the instructor had us teach our pups to crawl. She did it the first time, but when we tried it again, she said, “No thank you!” and refused to lie down. The instructor, Sue, and I chuckled and introduced her to the night’s second trick, “roll over.” That she liked – and redeemed her place as class star.
See Pascha, 13 weeks old, on another playdate with the Sheltie pup (7/8/23)
Pascha at 11 weeks
See Pascha, 11 weeks old, visiting the Alzheimer’s Unit (6/2//23)
See Pascha playing with the Sheltie pup on 6/17
to the YY litter Background Information
to the YY litter pedigree